Gadget Show Live 2016

Last week, the Marketing Team travelled to Birmingham to check out the latest in the technology and gadget industry at the Gadget Show Live!

The Gadget Show has been on television for 10 years now featuring the newest technological developments. With this ten year milestone, The Gadget Show decided to film an episode of The Gadget Show to air on our screens this year - which has never been done before!

Before heading off, we had an idea of what we wanted to see at the show including Virtual Reality, The Robo Challenge and the Tech Head Quiz. We created a list of the Top Ten Things to see at The Gadget Show and planned on ticking them all off of our list.

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality has become one of the most upcoming technological advancements this year with units such as Occulus Rift and HTC Vibe due to be released this year. During the event, Dave had the chance to try out some of the headsets for himself!

Dave playing Radial-G

In the Indie Game Area, an indie company had created a game called Radial-G which Dave got to try out for himself using an Occulus Rift VR Headset.

Dave testing Freefly VR

Freefly VR have created a headset that you can slot your mobile phone into to immerse yourself in a virtual world.

For a more in-depth look at the development of Virtual Reality, check out Dave's blog here.

Barclay's Digital Driving Licence

After watching a few children getting high scores on Barclay's Tech Quiz, I thought I'd try it out for myself. Unfortunately I was defeated and only scored 8 points overall...

We spoke to a member of the Barclay's team who explained that they had created a fun learning tool to teach people about the different aspects of the digital world we live in today. Barclay's Digital Driving Licence is a free way to increase your digital knowledge through completing easy modules and quizzes.

Whilst walking around the show, we found a few stalls which were showing off Segways - but we really wanted to try them out for ourselves! That's when we came across Ninebot and thought we'd have a go.

Dave on Ninebot Segway

Dave was a natural when it came to controlling the Segway, unlike myself who almost fell off.

Jess on Ninebot Segway

I got used to controlling the Segway with my weight in the end and it was pretty fun!

3D Printing is coming on leaps and bounds within the technology industry with objects such as surfboards and figurines being made by a 3D Printing Device.

Bespoke Arcades

We then got to visit our friends at Bespoke Arcades, who are one of our major Arcade Suppliers here at Home Leisure Direct.

Bespoke Arcades Stand

In their stand, they had various Arcade Machines on such as the Apex and the Nu-Gen. But the star of the show really was 'King Pin' - a digital pinball machine which can offer a variety of different pinball games such as 'Terminator 2' to the player complete with matching audio, backglass, playfield and lighting.

Jono playing on King Pin

Live Show

Near the end of the day, we got the chance to watch and take part in the Live Show which consisted of great giveaways, a preview of Virtual Reality being used on-stage, a magic act, live performance from Nina Nesbitt and much more!

But our favourite part was when they brought a dinosaur on stage to scare an unsuspecting member of the audience...

Gadget Show Live

Overall, we had a great time throughout the day and evening! If you attended the Gadget Show this year, let us know what your favourite new product was in the comments below.

We hope to attend the event next year and try out the newest technology all over again, who knows what would have been created by then?